Facilitating Readers' Opinions on the DOJ Lawsuit

If you agree with the settlement between three of the publishers sued by the Department of Justice, write the Department of Justice and let them know that you support the settlement.

To do this, you can use our handy email form. Simply fill out the form and it will send an email to john.read@usdoj.gov with the subject line “United States v. Apple, Inc. et al., No. 12-CV-2826(DLC) (S.D.N.Y.) – Comments on Proposed Final Judgment as to Defendants Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster”.

Here is an example of what your email might say,

Dear Mr. Read:

I am a long time consumer of books. I spend close to $100 per month on digital books and we digital readers have been treated poorly by publishers for years. They have been slow to digitize books. When they finally did make digital copies available, they would “window” them, meaning paper books would be released first and digital books would be released later, without any price reduction. The digital copies of their books are often poorly formatted, with serious errors, and often without color covers.

Digital readers are also subjected to paying the same cost for digital books or sometimes even increased costs despite having far fewer rights. We can’t lend the book to a family member or friend. We can’t transfer a book from one device to another. We can’t resell the book. Our own copyright rights as a reader are totally ignored under the ebook model and having to pay increased prices as a result of an improper conspiracy by the publishers is outrageous.

While I don’t think the DOJ settlement does enough to protect readers and their rights, it is a step in the right direction. Therefore, please consider this email as support for the settlement.